SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta Platforms to limit social media use by users under 18 to 90 hours a month and impose a series of new safeguards on minors, in a ruling that could influence wider legal efforts to regulate the company’s platforms.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid of the New Mexico First Judicial District Court ordered Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to implement the restrictions as part of a judgment finding that the company’s platforms constituted a public nuisance and had failed to adequately protect young users. The measures apply to users in New Mexico.
Under the order, Meta must strengthen age-verification measures, limit users under 18 to a combined 90 hours per month on Facebook and Instagram, and disable most push notifications for minors during overnight and school hours. The company must also hide post "like" counts by default for minors unless a parent or guardian permits them to be displayed.
The ruling additionally requires safeguards against sexualized interactions between minors and Meta's artificial-intelligence chatbots and calls for images suspected of containing nudity to be blurred. The judge declined some broader remedies sought by New Mexico, including changes to recommendation algorithms and bans on features such as infinite scroll and autoplay.
The order follows a March jury verdict that found Meta liable under New Mexico's consumer-protection law and imposed $375 million in civil penalties. Biedscheid's latest ruling adds $567 million, bringing the total financial judgment to $942 million. The additional funds are to support programs addressing youth mental-health harms, with $420 million designated for treatment services.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has described the ruling as a potential model for other governments pursuing legal action against social media companies. The case does not directly impose requirements outside New Mexico, but comes as dozens of states and other plaintiffs pursue litigation over alleged harms to children from social media platforms.
Meta said it disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal. The company has maintained that it invests heavily in protecting young users and has disputed claims that its platforms caused the harms alleged by New Mexico.
The implementation of the order could present technical and privacy challenges, particularly because Meta must determine which users are minors and which are located in New Mexico. The company has not been given a specific deadline to implement the measures, according to the Associated Press.
A separate federal trial involving Meta and claims brought by dozens of states over children's data and platform design is scheduled to begin in California on Aug. 12, adding to the legal scrutiny facing the company.
